In the current automotive environment, vehicles that are exported to other global regions must be designed appropriately to meet different regulatory requirements for the various vehicle systems. As a result most vehicles for export require a different bumper system to meet the specific requirements of the region to which they are exported. This usually requires multiple bumper components for the same vehicle so that a different bumper system can be assembled for the specific region destination. This requires additional investment for tooling, equipment, labor, assembly space, etc. Since several of the various region requirements conflict, no system has been designed that is capable of meeting all the global requirements with a single bumper system.
Previous prior art bumper systems that were designed to address the issue of meeting multiple, conflicting requirements with the same bumper system have been attempted. These prior art bumper systems have been designed to include a large area for energy absorption in the bumper area of the vehicle. However, this approach is very impractical and often impossible due to the styling requirements of current automobiles.
In addition, while many automobiles have their own designs for absorbing the force and energy associated with a collision, such as crumple zones, many of these designs fail to satisfy the regulatory requirements of various countries. These designs are often aimed at protecting the individual in a vehicle from high-impact collisions. Nevertheless, damage may also be sustained in low-impact collisions. While many automobiles do include designs selected to help protect the vehicle during low impact collisions, these designs do not take into account the possible damage to the object struck. For example, in instances wherein the low-impact collision is with a pedestrian, no provisions are provided in the bumper design for protecting the civilians, although such provisions are now required in certain countries.